Preview: Avalanche at Jets

March 19, 2014|Reuters

The Colorado Avalanche will look to rebound from a third-period meltdown in Montreal when they visit the Winnipeg Jets on Wednesday night in the finale of a three-game road trip. The Avalanche surrendered a pair of one-goal leads before watching the Canadiens score three late tallies in a 6-3 setback that dropped them into a tie with Chicago for second place in the Central Division. It was only the third defeat in 11 games for Colorado, which has allowed six goals in two of their last three contests.

The firing of Claude Noel and hiring of Paul Maurice in mid-January provided a needed jolt for the Jets, but they have been unable to sustain the momentum and have seen their playoffs hopes absorb a major blow. Winnipeg has dropped seven of its last eight games (1-4-3) to fall six points behind Phoenix for the second wild card in the Western Conference with only 12 games to play. Although the Jets poured in seven goals in Sunday's win over Dallas, they have scored a combined 13 goals in the last seven losses.

TV: 8 p.m. ET, ALT2 (Denver), TSN (Winnipeg)

ABOUT THE AVALANCHE (44-20-5): Despite the fact that starting goaltender Semyon Varlamov is in the midst of a career-best season and is tied for the league lead with 34 wins, coach Patrick Roy elected to start backup Jean-Sebastien Giguere in Tuesday's game. He'll be making another curious decision against Winnipeg, giving Reto Berra his first start since he was acquired from the Calgary Flames two weeks ago. Berra, who was signed to a three-year contract extension last week, has not played since March 3 and hasn't fared well in two starts against Winnipeg, giving up nine goals.

ABOUT THE JETS (31-30-9): Rookie Eric O'Dell, who was recalled from the minors last week, scored Winnipeg's only goal in Monday's 3-1 loss at St. Louis and made an impression on Maurice. "Lots of quickness, lots of speed," Maurice said of O'Dell. "I thought that (was) really good play, both games. Looks comfortable in that position. I'm really happy with his game." No. 1 netminder Ondrej Pavelec has missed the last two games due to a lower-body injury, which could mean a third straight start for Al Montoya, who is 1-1-1 and has surrendered seven goals in three starts versus Colorado this season.

OVERTIME

1. Avalanche C Matt Duchene has five goals and 13 assists in his last 12 games.

2. Jets converted D Dustin Byfuglien has scored six goals in his last six contests.

3. Colorado has won three of four meetings this season, with all four matchups decided by one goal - and the last three going beyond regulation.